Most drivers have been impacted by traffic delays. Traffic delays are caused by one or more traffic incidents, such as congestion, construction, an accident, a special event (e.g., concerts, sporting events, festivals), a weather condition (e.g., rain, snow, tornado), and so on. Many television stations provide a traffic report in their news reports to provide viewers with information regarding current traffic conditions. Some television stations use graphics when presenting traffic information.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,116,326, which is assigned to the same assignee of the present application, describes how a television station can display a traffic flow map that visually shows an animated graphic of the traffic conditions on one or more roadways in and around a metropolitan area. The traffic flow map is automatically generated from real-time traffic flow data and changes as the actual, current traffic conditions change.
In addition to the animated traffic flow graphics, the traffic report includes graphics for static objects that provide additional information to a viewer of a traffic report. For example, a road shield that identifies a road may be placed adjacent to the road in the traffic report. Street names, buildings, waterways, and so on may also be added to the traffic report to assist a viewer in recognizing the location described in the traffic report. These static objects do not change from traffic report to traffic report.
Additionally, the traffic report includes graphics for dynamic objects. Unlike the static objects, the dynamic objects can vary from traffic report to traffic report. One way in which the dynamic objects can vary is to change their visual characteristics. The visual characteristic changes may include changes to text characters, color, animation, texture, and so on.
The dynamic objects may be data driven or selected by the user. The dynamic objects are designed to receive a particular type of data, such as vehicle speed or travel times. As the data driving the dynamic object changes, the data presented by the dynamic object changes. For example, a dynamic object numerically depicting vehicle speed may show the speed increase or decrease by changing the text that is displayed as the traffic report is presented. The user may change the dynamic object characteristics manually for data that is more subjective and/or not supported by a data feed.
Another way in which dynamic objects vary is to change their location. The location information could be data driven. For example when the user requests an incident icon to be added to the traffic report, the system adds a dynamic object (the incident icon) at the data specified location, which corresponds to the real world location. Also, the system could allow a user to add an object at a user desired location. For example, the user may want to type in some text to draw attention to the traffic conditions or provide additional information at a user defined location. The location of this text object could vary from report to report depending on the conditions.
Additionally, a dynamic object can vary by whether or not the object is included in a traffic report. The fact that an object does not always exist in the virtual world is a characteristic of a dynamic object. The user may indicate whether to include a dynamic object in a traffic report based on the traffic information to be conveyed. For example, the user may include a traffic sensor speed dynamic object in a traffic report. As there are typically many sensors on a highway, the user selects a few representative sensors to provide data for the traffic sensor speed dynamic object.
The static and dynamic object graphics available to the traffic report are pre-configured in a traffic report installation configuration art file set. These configuration files define how the objects appear for a specific television station in the traffic report when a television producer or other user creates a map or graphic to include in a traffic report. The traffic report application code uses this configuration information to create the graphics for the traffic graphic or map, including the traffic flow graphics and the object graphics, and sends a video output signal to a television station for use in its traffic report.
While the animated traffic flow map with the object graphics allows a viewer to more easily comprehend the current traffic conditions, there continues to be room for new features and improvements in providing traffic reports. One area for improvement is increasing the flexibility of creating a traffic report. By allowing a television producer or other user to add traffic gadgets to the traffic flow map, the television producer has more control over what and how information is presented in a traffic report. As a result, the viewer of the traffic report may see a more dynamic and informative report of traffic conditions.